The 6 Best Gluten-Free Beers That You'll Actually Love to Drink

You might have Celiac disease. You might think you have an intolerance of gluten. Heck, you might just want to try a beer without gluten. No matter what your scenario, breweries out there are making gluten-free beer for you.

The good news is that big and small breweries alike are churning out gluten-free brews that actually taste pretty great. That said, you should know before you sip that some gluten-free beers do taste different if you’re used to the traditional stuff. Not bad, per se, just different. But first, some important background information.

What Is Gluten-Free Beer?

Though styles differ, typically brewers make beer using four basic ingredients: water, hops, yeast, and malt. That last ingredient, malt, is what gives most beer its gluten. “Malt” basically means a grain—often gluten-containing barley, wheat, or rye—that’s been dried in a certain way.

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There are two ways brewers make gluten-free beer. The first is to replace the malts that contain gluten with those that don’t. These include sorghum, rice, buckwheat, millet, or even quinoa.

The second method is to use an enzyme to break down the gluten protein chains, though that results in “gluten-reduced” beer, rather than something that’s truly gluten-free.

A (slightly geeky, but important) note about gluten-reduced beers: Most gluten-reduced beers come in at under 20 parts per million of gluten, which is generally accepted as the threshold for upsetting a person with Celiac disease. That said, there may be a slight risk associated with drinking gluten-reduced beer if you are Celiac, according to a 2017 study. Double-check the label.

Who Makes Gluten-Friendly Beer?

“There are probably around two dozen breweries producing gluten-free or gluten-reduced beer,” said Doug Foster, co-founder of the entirely gluten-free Aurochs Brewing Company in Pittsburgh, PA. “The number can be distilled down even more when you differentiate beers brewed in a dedicated gluten-free facility versus beers brewed in a shared facility.”

As recently as a few years ago, brewers pretended that gluten-free beer tasted like the real thing, but as a beer writer and someone who once thought he had Celiac disease himself, I can assure you that wasn’t the case. At best, these beers tasted like thin, watered-down versions of their traditional style. At their worst, they tasted like alcoholic prune juice.

However, as craft beer has evolved, so too have gluten-free beer recipes. It wasn’t that GF or gluten-reduced beers never had the capacity to taste good—rather, their poor quality was more a reflection on the early stages of any process, when revolutionaries are experimenting, getting feedback, and dialing in their recipes.

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Today, you’d be hard pressed to tell a well-made gluten-free or gluten-reduced beer from their more traditional counterparts. Some breweries are opening solely to provide their local communities with gluten-free beer (check out Aurochs Brewing, Ghostfish, Holidaily, and Groundbreaker, among others), and breweries with national distribution are making GF beers for the masses.

Of course, that means that now is a great time to give them a try.

What Are Some Good Go-To Gluten-Friendly Beers?

Here’s a nice mixed six-pack to start with.

Stone Brewing Co. Delicious IPA

This gluten-reduced beer from one of America’s best producers of hoppy India Pale Ales is made with Lemondrop and El Dorado hops, which give the beer a powerful citrus bite. If you’re willing to go gluten-reduced, it’s my top choice.

Uinta Brewing Company Free Form IPA

Uinta brews this gluten-free beer with millet and buckwheat. Throw in some Citra and Ella hops and you have a pleasantly bitter brew with a well-rounded body. It’s a mild 4% alcohol by volume, which makes it a refreshing sipper for hot days.

New Belgium Brewing Company Glutiny Pale Ale

A mutiny on gluten means glutiny … get it? Another great gluten-reduced choice for hopheads, Glutiny is a pale ale weighing in at only 10 parts per million of gluten. The presence of Equinox hops gives the beer notes of stone fruit.

Two Brothers Artisan Brewing Prairie Path Golden Ale

Hops are great at masking strange flavors, which is why many gluten-reduced beers are pale ales. But if f you’re looking for a delicious malt-driven gluten-light beer, we’d recommend this golden ale from Two Brothers. Pair this one with chicken, salmon, or a salad.

Omission Brewing Co. Ultimate Light

One of the most ubiquitous gluten-reduced beers around, Ultimate Light is your classic light beer. With only 99 calories and 5 grams of carbs, it’s a truly light beer. Drink during a hot summer day or during a big sports game.

Ipswich Ale Brewery Celia Saison

If you’re a beer connoisseur, you’ve heard of The Alchemist, the Waterbury, VT-based makers of Heady Topper, one of the highest-rated IPAs in the country. The Alchemist’s founder, Jon Kimmich, came up with this recipe for the gluten-free Celia Saison, a sorghum-based beer cleverly named for its use of Celia hops and the disease which prevents those who have it from consuming gluten without getting sick. Inspired by rustic Belgian ales, Celia beer has a sweet, caramel-malt flavor with a hint of orange.

Kenny GouldKenny Gould is a New York-based drinks writer for Men’s Health.

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